World North Korea factories humming with 'Made in China' clothes, traders say

<p>The United States could shortly broaden talks on a push for stronger United Nations sanctions on North Korea to include all 15 Security Council members, diplomats said.</p>Since North Korea's July 4 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the United States has been negotiating with Pyongyang ally China on a draft resolution to impose new sanctions on North Korea, which fired a second ICBM last Friday.

The clothes made in North Korea are labelled “ Made in China ” and exported across the world, they said . All factories in North Korea are state-owned. And the textile ones appear to be humming , traders and agents say .

The clothes made in North Korea are labeled " Made in China " and exported across the world, they said . All factories in North Korea are state-owned. And the textile ones appear to be humming , traders and agents say .

Chinese textile firms are increasingly using North Korean factories to take advantage of cheaper labor across the border, traders and businesses in the border city of Dandong told Reuters.

The clothes made in North Korea are labeled "Made in China" and exported across the world, they said.

Using North Korea to produce cheap clothes for sale around the globe shows that for every door that is closed by ever-tightening U.N. sanctions another one may open. The UN sanctions, introduced to punish North Korea for its missile and nuclear programs, do not include any bans on textile exports.

China calls for halt to U.S. THAAD deployment in S.Korea

China on Saturday called for a halt to the deployment of the THAAD U.S. anti-missile defense system in South Korea and for relevant equipment to be dismantled, China's U.N. Ambassador Liu Jieyi told the U.N. Security Council. "The deployment of the THAAD system will not bring a solution to the issue of (North Korea's) nuclear testing and missile launches," Liu told the council after it imposed new sanctions on North Korea over two long-range missile launches.He also urged North Korea to "cease taking actions that might further escalate tensions.

The clothes made in North Korea are labeled " Made in China " and exported across the world, they said . All factories in North Korea are state-owned. And the textile ones appear to be humming , traders and agents say .

The clothes made in North Korea are labeled " Made in China " and exported across the world, they said . All factories in North Korea are state-owned. And the textile ones appear to be humming , traders and agents say .

"We take orders from all over the world," said one Korean-Chinese businessman in Dandong, the Chinese border city where the majority of North Korea trade passes through. Like many people Reuters interviewed for this story, he spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Dozens of clothing agents operate in Dandong, acting as go-betweens for Chinese clothing suppliers and buyers from the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Canada and Russia, the businessman said.

"We will ask the Chinese suppliers who work with us if they plan on being open with their client -- sometimes the final buyer won't realize their clothes are being made in North Korea. It's extremely sensitive," he said.

Textiles were North Korea's second-biggest export after coal and other minerals in 2016, totaling $752 million, according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). Total exports from North Korea in 2016 rose 4.6 percent to $2.82 billion.

China says willing to pay the price for new North Korea sanctions

China will pay the biggest price from the new United Nations sanctions against North Korea because of its close economic relationship with the country, but will always enforce the resolutions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. The United Nations Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Saturday that could slash its &dollar;3 billion annual export revenue by a third. Speaking at a regional security forum in Manila on Monday, Wang said the new resolution showed China and the international community's opposition to North Korea's continued missile tests, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

“All these investments will go down the drain if China cuts off economic ties with North Korea ,” she said . Besides traders , any business that deals with North Korea , however indirectly, is also at risk. At a garment factory in Fengcheng, another city near Dandong

The manager, who refused to give her name, said the raw material is sent to factories in the southern city of Guangzhou, where it is made into rings and bracelets. Trump complained on Wednesday that trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40 percent in the first quarter.

Its flourishing textiles industry shows how impoverished North Korea has adapted, with a limited embrace of market reforms, to sanctions since 2006 when it first tested a nuclear device. The industry also shows the extent to which North Korea relies on China as an economic lifeline, even as U.S. President Donald Trump piles pressure on Beijing to do more to rein in its neighbor's weapons programmes.

Chinese exports to North Korea rose almost 30 percent to $1.67 billion in the first half of the year, largely driven by textile materials and other traditional labour-intensive goods not included on the United Nations embargo list, Chinese customs spokesman Huang Songping told reporters.

Chinese suppliers send fabrics and other raw materials required for manufacturing clothing to North Korean factories across the border where garments are assembled and exported.

China holds wargames as North Korea tensions spike

The Chinese navy and air force flexed their muscles in live-fire drills in seas adjacent to the Korean Peninsula, the defence ministry said, amid regional tensions over North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weaponry. The "large-scale" exercises were being conducted in the seas and skies off China's east coast in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf, and included the firing of dozens of missiles, a notice posted late Monday on the Ministry of Defence website said.

The manager, who refused to give her name, said the raw material is sent to factories in the southern city of Guangzhou, where it is made into rings and bracelets. Trump complained on Wednesday that trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40 percent in the first quarter.

American clothing displaying “ Made in China ” tags have been spotted at a North Korean garment production factory , photos exclusively obtained by NK News reveal. At least five dress shirts branded with Lands’ End labels were seen on a rack displaying previous projects at North Korea ’s Sonbong

FACTORIES HUMMING

Australian sportswear brand Rip Curl publicly apologized last year when it was discovered that some of its ski gear, labeled "Made in China", had been made in one of North Korea’s garment factories. Rip Curl blamed a rogue supplier for outsourcing to "an unauthorized subcontractor".

But traders and agents in Dandong say it's a widespread practice.

Manufacturers can save up to 75 percent by making their clothes in North Korea, said a Chinese trader who has lived in Pyongyang.

Some of the North Korean factories are located in Siniuju city just across the border from Dandong. Other factories are located outside Pyongyang. Finished clothing is often directly shipped from North Korea to Chinese ports before being sent onto the rest of the world, the Chinese traders and businesses said.

North Korea has about 15 large garment exporting enterprises, each operating several factories spread around the country, and dozens of medium sized companies, according to GPI Consultancy of the Netherlands, which helps foreign companies do business in North Korea.

North Korea says it released Canadian detainee

North Korea says it released a Canadian pastor who has been serving a life sentence since 2015.Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said on Wednesday that Hyeon Soo Lim was released on "sick bail" following a decision by the country's Central Court.

The manager, who refused to give her name, said the raw material is sent to factories in the southern city of Guangzhou, where it is made into rings and bracelets. "It's cheaper to buy from North Korea , so the prices we offer shoppers are cheaper than what they can normally find in China ," she said .

Companies in the Netherlands, Germany, France, China , and South Korea are producing various kinds of clothing in North Korea and some of the local factories have become very large and experienced exporters.

All factories in North Korea are state-owned. And the textile ones appear to be humming, traders and agents say.

"We've been trying to get some of our clothes made in North Korea but the factories are fully booked at the moment," said a Korean-Chinese businesswoman at a factory in Dalian, a Chinese port city two hours away from Dandong by train.

"North Korean workers can produce 30 percent more clothes each day than a Chinese worker," said the Korean-Chinese businessman.

"In North Korea, factory workers can't just go to the toilet whenever they feel like, otherwise they think it slows down the whole assembly line."

"They aren't like Chinese factory workers who just work for the money. North Koreans have a different attitude -- they believe they are working for their country, for their leader."

And they are paid wages significantly below many other Asian countries. North Korean workers at the now shuttered Kaesong industrial zone just across the border from South Korea received wages ranging from a minimum of around $75 a month to an average of around $160, compared to average factory wages of $450-$750 a month in China. Kaesong was run jointly with South Korea and the wage structure - much higher than in the rest of North Korea - was negotiated with Seoul.

Trump moves to pressure China on trade practices

President Trump will sign an executive memorandum on Monday authorizing the U.S. trade representative to determine whether to investigate China's intellectual property and trade practices, according to senior administration officials.While administration officials said Saturday that it's too early to discuss specific actions against China, such an investigation could eventually pave the way for Trump to impose tariffs on Chine se goods. You Should Carry One of These 11 Credit Cards Find Out More Sponsored by CompareCards Trump is expected to return to Washington from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. on Monday to sign the memo.

Companies in the Netherlands, Germany, France, China , and South Korea are producing various kinds of clothing in North Korea and some of the local factories have become very large and experienced exporters.

“We are sending an armada, very powerful,” President Donald Trump said over a week ago when asked about the tensions in North Korea . It’s not expected to arrive near North Korea until later this month or maybe even next month. Who knows? We certainly don’t, after the Trump regime made

WORKERS IN CHINA

Chinese clothing manufacturers have been increasingly using North Korean textile factories even as they relocate their own factories offshore, including to Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia.

"Wages are too high in China now. It's no wonder so many orders are being sent to North Korea," said a Korean-Chinese businesswoman who works in the textiles industry in Dandong.

Chinese textile companies are also employing thousands of cheaper North Korean workers in China.

North Korea relies on overseas workers to earn hard currency, especially since U.N. sanctions have choked off some other sources of export earnings. Much of their wages are remitted back to the state and help fund Pyongyang's ambitious nuclear and missile programmes, the U.N. says.

The new U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea this month ban countries from increasing the current numbers of North Korean laborers working abroad.

China does not disclose official figures for the number of North Koreans working in factories and restaurants in China, although numbers are down from a peak period two to three years ago, according to Cheng Xiaohe, a North Korea specialist at Beijing's Renmin University.

"It's a hassle to hire North Korean workers though," the Korean-Chinese businesswoman from Dalian said. "You need to have the right set-up. Their living space has to be completely closed off, you have to provide a classroom where they can take classes every day. They bring their own doctor, nurse, cook and teachers who teach them North Korean ideology every day."

One clothing factory that Reuters visited in Dandong employs 40 North Korean workers. They fill smaller orders for clients who are more stringent about their supply chains and expressly request no production inside North Korea.

North Korean factory workers in China earn about 2,000 yuan ($300.25), about half of the average for Chinese workers, the factory owner said.

They are allowed to keep around a third of their wages, with the rest going to their North Korean government handlers, he said. A typical shift at the factory runs from 7:30 a.m. to around 10 p.m.

The workers - all women dressed in pink and black uniforms - sat close together behind four rows of sewing machines, working on a consignment of dark-colored winter jackets. The Chinese characters for "clean" and "tidy" were emblazoned in bold blue lettering above their heads and the main factory floor was silent but for the tapping and whirring of sewing machines.

(Reporting by Sue-Lin Wong and Philip Wen; Additional reporting by Lusha Zhang and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

North Korea: US cannot dodge ‘merciless strike’ .
North Korea on Sunday warned the U.S. it faces a "merciless strike" following "reckless behavior driving the situation into the uncontrollable phase of a nuclear war. "North Korea declared it has the military capacity to target the mainland U.S. as well as the U.S. territory Guam in a strike the U.S. cannot "dodge," according to CNN.CNN reports the message was in the official government newspaper, Rodong Sinmun.The warning comes a day before the U.S. begins conducting annual military exercises with South Korea starting Monday.

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